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Integrated circuit of Atmel Diopsis 740 System on Chip showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery
Integrated circuit of Atmel Diopsis 740 System on Chip showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery
Microchips (EPROM memory) with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. Note the fine silver-colored wires that connect the integrated circuit to the pins of the package. The window allows the memory contents of the chip to be erased, by exposure to strong ultraviolet light in an eraser device.
Microchips (EPROM memory) with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. } Atmel Corporation ( is a manufacturer of Semiconductors, founded in 1984. System-on-a-chip or system on chip ( SoC or SOC) refers to integrating all components of a Computer or other electronic System An EPROM, or E rasable P rogrammable '''''R'''ead-'''O'''nly '''M'''emory'', is a type of memory chip that retains its Note the fine silver-colored wires that connect the integrated circuit to the pins of the package. The window allows the memory contents of the chip to be erased, by exposure to strong ultraviolet light in an eraser device. Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays

In electronics, an integrated circuit (also known as IC, microcircuit, microchip, silicon chip, or chip) is a miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices, as well as passive components) that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material. Electronics refers to the flow of charge (moving Electrons through Nonmetal conductors (mainly Semiconductors, whereas electrical An electronic circuit is a closed path formed by the interconnection of Electronic components through which an Electric current can flow Semiconductor devices are Electronic components that exploit the electronic properties of Semiconductor materials principally Silicon, Germanium Passivity is a property of engineering systems most commonly used in electronic engineering and control systems A semiconductor' is a Solid material that has Electrical conductivity in between a conductor and an insulator; it can vary over that

A hybrid integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit constructed of individual semiconductor devices, as well as passive components, bonded to a substrate or circuit board. A hybrid integrated circuit, HIC, hybrid microcircuit, or simply hybrid is a miniaturized electronic circuit constructed of individual devices such

This article is about monolithic integrated circuits.

Contents

Introduction

Integrated circuits were made possible by experimental discoveries which showed that semiconductor devices could perform the functions of vacuum tubes, and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device fabrication. Semiconductor devices are Electronic components that exploit the electronic properties of Semiconductor materials principally Silicon, Germanium This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create chips the Integrated circuits that are present in everyday Electrical and electronic The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip was an enormous improvement over the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic components. In Electronics, a transistor is a Semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals An electronic component is a basic electronic element usually packaged in a discrete form with two or more connecting leads or metallic pads The integrated circuit's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of

There are two main advantages of ICs over discrete circuits: cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit by photolithography and not constructed one transistor at a time. Photolithography (also called optical lithography) is a process used in Microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film (or the bulk of a substrate Performance is high since the components switch quickly and consume little power, because the components are small and close together. As of 2006, chip areas range from a few square mm to around 350 mm², with up to 1 million transistors per mm². The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to In Electronics, a transistor is a Semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to

Invention

The birth of the IC

The first integrated circuit was invented by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. Jack St Clair Kilby ( November 8, 1923 - June 20, 2005) was a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 2000 for his invention Texas Instruments ( better known in the electronics industry (and popularly as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA [1] Kilby recorded his initial ideas concerning the integrated circuit in July 1958 and successfully demonstrated the first working integrated circuit on September 12, 1958. [2] Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the integrated circuit. [3]

Early developments of the integrated circuit go back to 1949, when the German engineer Werner Jacobi (Siemens AG) filed a patent for an integrated-circuit-like semiconductor amplifying device [4] showing five transistors on a common substrate arranged in a 3-stage amplifier arrangement. Generally an amplifier or simply amp, is any device that changes usually increases the amplitude of a signal. Jacobi discloses small and cheap hearing aids as typical industrial applications of his patent. A hearing aid is an electroacoustic body-worn apparatus which typically fits in or behind the wearer's Ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sounds A commercial use of his patent has not been reported.

The integrated circuit was later also conceived by a radar scientist, Geoffrey W.A. Dummer (1909-2002), working for the Royal Radar Establishment of the British Ministry of Defence, and published in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 1952. Introduction Geoffrey William Arnold Dummer, MBE (1945, CEng, IEE Premium Award FIEEE, MIEE, USA Medal The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dummer unsuccessfully attempted to build such a circuit in 1956.

A precursor idea to the IC was to create small ceramic squares (wafers), each one containing a single miniaturized component. Components could then be integrated and wired into a bidimensional or tridimensional compact grid. This idea, which looked very promising in 1957, was proposed to the US Army by Jack Kilby, and led to the short-lived Micromodule Program (similar to 1951's Project Tinkertoy). Jack St Clair Kilby ( November 8, 1923 - June 20, 2005) was a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 2000 for his invention [5] However, as the project was gaining momentum, Kilby came up with a new, revolutionary design: the IC.

The aforementioned Noyce credited Kurt Lehovec of Sprague Electric for the principle of p-n junction isolation caused by the action of a biased p-n junction (the diode) as a key concept behind the IC. Kurt Lehovec is one of the pioneers of the Integrated circuit, 1959. p-n junction isolation is a method used to electrically isolate electronic components such as Transistors, on an Integrated circuit (IC by surrounding the components [6]

See: Other variations of vacuum tubes for precursor concepts such as the Loewe 3NF. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. The Loewe 3NF was an early attempt to combine several functions in one electronic device

Generations

SSI, MSI, LSI

The first integrated circuits contained only a few transistors. Called "Small-Scale Integration" (SSI), they used circuits containing transistors numbering in the tens.

SSI circuits were crucial to early aerospace projects, and vice-versa. Both the Minuteman missile and Apollo program needed lightweight digital computers for their inertial guidance systems; the Apollo guidance computer led and motivated the integrated-circuit technology, while the Minuteman missile forced it into mass-production. The LGM-30 Minuteman is a United States nuclear Missile, a land-based Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM

These programs purchased almost all of the available integrated circuits from 1960 through 1963, and almost alone provided the demand that funded the production improvements to get the production costs from $1000/circuit (in 1960 dollars) to merely $25/circuit (in 1963 dollars). They began to appear in consumer products at the turn of the decade, a typical application being FM inter-carrier sound processing in television receivers. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic

The next step in the development of integrated circuits, taken in the late 1960s, introduced devices which contained hundreds of transistors on each chip, called "Medium-Scale Integration" (MSI).

They were attractive economically because while they cost little more to produce than SSI devices, they allowed more complex systems to be produced using smaller circuit boards, less assembly work (because of fewer separate components), and a number of other advantages.

Further development, driven by the same economic factors, led to "Large-Scale Integration" (LSI) in the mid 1970s, with tens of thousands of transistors per chip.

Integrated circuits such as 1K-bit RAMs, calculator chips, and the first microprocessors, that began to be manufactured in moderate quantities in the early 1970s, had under 4000 transistors. True LSI circuits, approaching 10000 transistors, began to be produced around 1974, for computer main memories and second-generation microprocessors.

VLSI

Main article: Very-large-scale integration
Upper interconnect layers on an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor die.
Upper interconnect layers on an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor die. The Intel 486, otherwise known as the 80486 i486 or just 486 was the first tightly pipelined X86 design

The final step in the development process, starting in the 1980s and continuing through the present, was "Very Large-Scale Integration" (VLSI). This could be said to start with hundreds of thousands of transistors in the early 1980s, and continues beyond several billion transistors as of 2007.

There was no single breakthrough that allowed this increase in complexity, though many factors helped. Manufacturing moved to smaller rules and cleaner fabs, allowing them to produce chips with more transistors with adequate yield, as summarized by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors is a set of documents produced by a group of Semiconductor industry experts Design tools improved enough to make it practical to finish these designs in a reasonable time. Electronic design automation ( EDA) is the category of tools for designing and producing electronic systems ranging from The more energy efficient CMOS replaced NMOS and PMOS, avoiding a prohibitive increase in power consumption. Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor ( CMOS) (pronounced "see-moss" siːmɔːs ˈsiːmɒs is a major class of Integrated circuits CMOS technology Better texts such as the landmark textbook by Mead and Conway helped schools educate more designers. Professor Carver Andress Mead (born 1 May 1934, in Bakersfield California) is a prominent U Lynn Conway (born 1938 is an American computer scientist, electrical engineer, Inventor, and Transsexual activist . .

In 1986 the first one megabit RAM chips were introduced, which contained more than one million transistors. Microprocessor chips passed the million transistor mark in 1989 and the billion transistor mark in 2005[7]. The trend continues largely unabated, with chips introduced in 2007 containing tens of billions of memory transistors [8].

ULSI, WSI, SOC, 3D-IC

To reflect further growth of the complexity, the term ULSI that stands for "Ultra-Large Scale Integration" was proposed for chips of complexity of more than 1 million transistors.

Wafer-scale integration (WSI) is a system of building very-large integrated circuits that uses an entire silicon wafer to produce a single "super-chip". Wafer-scale integration, WSI for short is a yet-unused system of building very-large Integrated circuit networks that use an entire silicon wafer to produce Through a combination of large size and reduced packaging, WSI could lead to dramatically reduced costs for some systems, notably massively parallel supercomputers. The name is taken from the term Very-Large-Scale Integration, the current state of the art when WSI was being developed.

System-on-a-Chip (SoC or SOC) is an integrated circuit in which all the components needed for a computer or other system are included on a single chip. System-on-a-chip or system on chip ( SoC or SOC) refers to integrating all components of a Computer or other electronic System The design of such a device can be complex and costly, and building disparate components on a single piece of silicon may compromise the efficiency of some elements. However, these drawbacks are offset by lower manufacturing and assembly costs and by a greatly reduced power budget: because signals among the components are kept on-die, much less power is required (see Packaging, above).

Three Dimensional Integrated Circuit (3D-IC) has two or more layers of active electronic components that are integrated both vertically and horizontally into a single circuit. In Electronics, a three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC 3D-IC or 3-D IC is a chip with two or more layers of active Electronic components integrated Communication between layers uses on-die signaling, so power consumption is much lower than in equivalent separate circuits. Judicious use of short vertical wires can substantially reduce overall wire length for faster operation.

Advances in integrated circuits

The integrated circuit from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip.
The integrated circuit from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip. A microcontroller (also MCU or µC is a functional Computer system-on-a- chip. An EPROM, or E rasable P rogrammable '''''R'''ead-'''O'''nly '''M'''emory'', is a type of memory chip that retains its In Computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an Information processing system (such as a Computer) and the outside

Among the most advanced integrated circuits are the microprocessors or "cores", which control everything from computers to cellular phones to digital microwave ovens. A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. A microwave oven, or a microwave, is a Kitchen appliance that cooks or heats Food by Dielectric heating. Digital memory chips and ASICs are examples of other families of integrated circuits that are important to the modern information society. An information society is a Society in which the creation distribution diffusion use integration and manipulation of Information is a significant economic While cost of designing and developing a complex integrated circuit is quite high, when spread across typically millions of production units the individual IC cost is minimized. The performance of ICs is high because the small size allows short traces which in turn allows low power logic (such as CMOS) to be used at fast switching speeds. Electric power is defined as the rate at which Electrical energy is transferred by an Electric circuit. Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor ( CMOS) (pronounced "see-moss" siːmɔːs ˈsiːmɒs is a major class of Integrated circuits CMOS technology

ICs have consistently migrated to smaller feature sizes over the years, allowing more circuitry to be packed on each chip. This increased capacity per unit area can be used to decrease cost and/or increase functionality—see Moore's law which, in its modern interpretation, states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. Moore's law describes an important trend in the History of computer hardware. In general, as the feature size shrinks, almost everything improves—the cost per unit and the switching power consumption go down, and the speed goes up. However, ICs with nanometer-scale devices are not without their problems, principal among which is leakage current (see subthreshold leakage for a discussion of this), although these problems are not insurmountable and will likely be solved or at least ameliorated by the introduction of high-k dielectrics. A nanometre ( American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) ( Greek: νάνος nanos dwarf; μετρώ metrό count) is a Subthreshold leakage or subthreshold conduction or subthreshold drain current is the current that flows between the source and drain of a MOSFET The term high-κ Dielectric refers to a material with a high Dielectric constant (κ (as compared to Silicon dioxide) used in semiconductor manufacturing Since these speed and power consumption gains are apparent to the end user, there is fierce competition among the manufacturers to use finer geometries. This process, and the expected progress over the next few years, is well described by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors is a set of documents produced by a group of Semiconductor industry experts

Popularity of ICs

Main article: Microchip revolution

Only a half century after their development was initiated, integrated circuits have become ubiquitous. The microchip revolution had its beginnings with the inventions of Integrated circuit (IC and the Microprocessor, both of which were developed to increase Computer Computers, cellular phones, and other digital appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. A digital system uses discrete (discontinuous values usually but not always Symbolized Numerically (hence called "digital" to represent information for That is, modern computing, communications, manufacturing and transport systems, including the Internet, all depend on the existence of integrated circuits. Computing is usually defined like the activity of using and developing Computer technology Computer hardware and software. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, "making by hand" is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Indeed, many scholars believe that the digital revolution—brought about by the microchip revolution—was one of the most significant occurrences in the history of humankind. Scholarly method &mdash or as it is more commonly called scholarship &mdash is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as This article presents a Timeline of events in the history of Computing from 1950 to 1979 The microchip revolution had its beginnings with the inventions of Integrated circuit (IC and the Microprocessor, both of which were developed to increase Computer History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus

Classification

A CMOS 4000 IC in a DIP
A CMOS 4000 IC in a DIP

Integrated circuits can be classified into analog, digital and mixed signal (both analog and digital on the same chip). Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor ( CMOS) (pronounced "see-moss" siːmɔːs ˈsiːmɒs is a major class of Integrated circuits CMOS technology The 4000 series is a family of industry standard Integrated circuits which implement a variety of logic functions using Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor In Microelectronics, a dual in-line package (DIP, sometimes called a DIL package is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows Analogue electronics (or analog in American English) are those electronic systems with a continuously Variable signal Digital electronics are Electronics systems that use Digital signals Digital electronics are representations of Boolean algebra also see A mixed-signal Integrated circuit combines Analog circuits, used for analog signal processing with Digital signal processing (DSP circuits on a single

Digital integrated circuits can contain anything from a few thousand to millions of logic gates, flip-flops, multiplexers, and other circuits in a few square millimeters. A logic gate performs a logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output In Digital circuits a flip-flop is a term referring to an Electronic circuit (a Bistable Multivibrator) that has two stable states and thereby In Electronics, a multiplexer or mux ( occasionally the term muldex is also found for a combination multiplexer-demultiplexer The small size of these circuits allows high speed, low power dissipation, and reduced manufacturing cost compared with board-level integration. These digital ICs, typically microprocessors, DSPs, and micro controllers work using binary mathematics to process "one" and "zero" signals. A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated A digital signal processor ( DSP or DSP micro) is a specialized Microprocessor designed specifically for Digital signal processing, generally

Analog ICs, such as sensors, power management circuits, and operational amplifiers, work by processing continuous signals. An operational amplifier, often called an op-amp, is a DC - coupled high- Gain electronic voltage amplifier with differential They perform functions like amplification, active filtering, demodulation, mixing, etc. Generally an amplifier or simply amp, is any device that changes usually increases the amplitude of a signal. An active filter is a type of analog Electronic filter, distinguished by the use of one or more Active components i Demodulation is the act of removing the Modulation from an analog signal to get the original Baseband signal back In Telecommunication, a mixer is a Nonlinear or time-varying circuit or device that accepts as its Input two different frequencies and presents Analog ICs ease the burden on circuit designers by having expertly designed analog circuits available instead of designing a difficult analog circuit from scratch.

ICs can also combine analog and digital circuits on a single chip to create functions such as A/D converters and D/A converters. An analog-to-digital converter (abbreviated ADC, A/D or A to D) is an electronic integrated circuit which converts continuous signals to In Electronics, a digital-to-analog converter ( DAC or D-to-A) is a device for converting a digital (usually binary code to an Analog signal Such circuits offer smaller size and lower cost, but must carefully account for signal interference.

Manufacture

Fabrication

Main article: Semiconductor fabrication
Rendering of a small standard cell with three metal layers (dielectric has been removed). The sand-colored structures are metal interconnect, with the vertical pillars being contacts, typically plugs of tungsten. The reddish structures are polysilicon gates, and the solid at the bottom is the crystalline silicon bulk.
Rendering of a small standard cell with three metal layers (dielectric has been removed). Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create chips the Integrated circuits that are present in everyday Electrical and electronic For the battery used as a voltage reference see Weston cell. In semiconductor design standard cell methodology is a method of designing Application Specific A dielectric is a nonconducting substance ie an insulator. The term was coined by William Whewell in response to a request from Michael Faraday. The sand-colored structures are metal interconnect, with the vertical pillars being contacts, typically plugs of tungsten. The reddish structures are polysilicon gates, and the solid at the bottom is the crystalline silicon bulk.

The semiconductors of the periodic table of the chemical elements were identified as the most likely materials for a solid state vacuum tube by researchers like William Shockley at Bell Laboratories starting in the 1930s. A semiconductor' is a Solid material that has Electrical conductivity in between a conductor and an insulator; it can vary over that The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the Chemical elements Although precursors to this table exist its invention is A chemical element is a type of Atom that is distinguished by its Atomic number; that is by the number of Protons in its nucleus. Solid-state Electronic components devices and systems are based entirely on the Semiconductor, such as Transistors Microprocessor chips and This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. William Bradford Shockley ( February 13, 1910 &ndash August 12, 1989) was a British -born American Physicist Bell Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) is the Research organization Starting with copper oxide, proceeding to germanium, then silicon, the materials were systematically studied in the 1940s and 1950s. Germanium (dʒɚˈmeɪniəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Ge and Atomic number 32 Silicon (ˈsɪlɪkən or /ˈsɪlɪkɒn/ silicium is the Chemical element that has the symbol Si and Atomic number 14 Today, silicon monocrystals are the main substrate used for integrated circuits (ICs) although some III-V compounds of the periodic table such as gallium arsenide are used for specialised applications like LEDs, lasers, solar cells and the highest-speed integrated circuits. A single crystal, also called monocrystal, is a Crystalline Solid in which the Crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken Substrate is a term used in Printing (mainly industrial printing to describe the base material onto which Images will be printed Gallium arsenide ( GaAs) is a compound of two elements Gallium and Arsenic. A laser is a device that emits Light ( Electromagnetic radiation) through a process called Stimulated emission. A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts Solar energy into Electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It took decades to perfect methods of creating crystals without defects in the crystalline structure of the semiconducting material. In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating In Mineralogy and Crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of Atoms in a Crystal.

Semiconductor ICs are fabricated in a layer process which includes these key process steps:

The main process steps are supplemented by doping, cleaning and planarisation steps. A semiconductor' is a Solid material that has Electrical conductivity in between a conductor and an insulator; it can vary over that

Mono-crystal silicon wafers (or for special applications, silicon on sapphire or gallium arsenide wafers) are used as the substrate. Silicon (ˈsɪlɪkən or /ˈsɪlɪkɒn/ silicium is the Chemical element that has the symbol Si and Atomic number 14 A wafer is a thin slice of Semiconductor material such as a Silicon crystal used in the fabrication of Integrated circuit and other microdevices Silicon on sapphire (SOS is a hetero-epitaxial process for Integrated circuit manufacturing that consists of a thin layer (typically thinner than 0 Gallium arsenide ( GaAs) is a compound of two elements Gallium and Arsenic. Photolithography is used to mark different areas of the substrate to be doped or to have polysilicon, insulators or metal (typically aluminium) tracks deposited on them. Photolithography (also called optical lithography) is a process used in Microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film (or the bulk of a substrate In Semiconductor production doping is the process of intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure (also referred to as intrinsic) semiconductor to WikipediaNaming

Since a CMOS device only draws current on the transition between logic states, CMOS devices consume much less current than bipolar devices. Boolean algebra (or Boolean logic) is a logical calculus of truth values, developed by George Boole in the late 1830s In Computer science and Automata theory, a state is a unique configuration of information in a program or machine A bipolar (junction transistor ( BJT) is a type of Transistor.

A random access memory is the most regular type of integrated circuit; the highest density devices are thus memories; but even a microprocessor will have memory on the chip. A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated (See the regular array structure at the bottom of the first image. ) Although the structures are intricate – with widths which have been shrinking for decades – the layers remain much thinner than the device widths. The layers of material are fabricated much like a photographic process, although light waves in the visible spectrum cannot be used to "expose" a layer of material, as they would be too large for the features. Light, or visible light, is Electromagnetic radiation of a Wavelength that is visible to the Human eye (about 400–700 A wave is a disturbance that propagates through Space and Time, usually with transference of Energy. Thus photons of higher frequencies (typically ultraviolet) are used to create the patterns for each layer. In Physics, the photon is the Elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays Because each feature is so small, electron microscopes are essential tools for a process engineer who might be debugging a fabrication process. An electron microscope is a type of Microscope that uses Electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image Industrial processes are procedures involving chemical or mechanical steps to aid in the Manufacture of an item or items usually carried out on a very An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering.

Each device is tested before packaging using automated test equipment (ATE), in a process known as wafer testing, or wafer probing. Wafer testing is a step performed during semiconductor device fabrication. The wafer is then cut into rectangular blocks, each of which is called a die. Each good die (plural dice, dies, or die) is then connected into a package using aluminium (or gold) wires which are welded to pads, usually found around the edge of the die. A die in the context of Integrated circuits is a small block of semiconducting material on which a given functional circuit is fabricated Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials usually Metals or Thermoplastics by causing coalescence. After packaging, the devices go through final testing on the same or similar ATE used during wafer probing. Test cost can account for over 25% of the cost of fabrication on lower cost products, but can be negligible on low yielding, larger, and/or higher cost devices.

As of 2005, a fabrication facility (commonly known as a semiconductor fab) costs over a billion US Dollars to construct[9], because much of the operation is automated. A semiconductor' is a Solid material that has Electrical conductivity in between a conductor and an insulator; it can vary over that The most advanced processes employ the following techniques:

Packaging

Main article: Integrated circuit packaging

The earliest integrated circuits were packaged in ceramic flat packs, which continued to be used by the military for their reliability and small size for many years. Silicon on insulator technology ( SOI) refers to the use of a layered silicon-insulator-silicon Substrate in place of conventional silicon substrates in semiconductor Strained silicon is a layer of Silicon in which the silicon Atoms are stretched beyond their normal interatomic distance International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology Strained silicon directly on insulator (SSDOI is a procedure developed by IBM which removes the Silicon Germanium layer in the Strained silicon Integrated circuit packaging is the final stage of semiconductor device fabrication per se, followed by IC testing. Commercial circuit packaging quickly moved to the dual in-line package (DIP), first in ceramic and later in plastic. In Microelectronics, a dual in-line package (DIP, sometimes called a DIL package is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows In the 1980s pin counts of VLSI circuits exceeded the practical limit for DIP packaging, leading to pin grid array (PGA) and leadless chip carrier (LCC) packages. A pin grid array, often abbreviated PGA, refers to the arrangement of pins on the integrated circuit packaging A leadless chip carrier (LCC is a type of packaging for Integrated circuits which has no " leads " but instead rounded pins through the edges of Surface mount packaging appeared in the early 1980s and became popular in the late 1980s, using finer lead pitch with leads formed as either gull-wing or J-lead, as exemplified by small-outline integrated circuit -- a carrier which occupies an area about 30 – 50% less than an equivalent DIP, with a typical thickness that is 70% less. Surface-mount technology ( SMT) is a method for constructing electronic circuits in which the components (SMC or Surface Mounted Components are mounted directly onto A small-outline integrated circuit ( SOIC) is a surface-mounted Integrated circuit (IC package which occupies an area about 30 - 50% less than an equivalent In Microelectronics, a dual in-line package (DIP, sometimes called a DIL package is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows This package has "gull wing" leads protruding from the two long sides and a lead spacing of 0. 050 inches.

Small-outline integrated circuit (SOIC) and PLCC packages. A small-outline integrated circuit ( SOIC) is a surface-mounted Integrated circuit (IC package which occupies an area about 30 - 50% less than an equivalent In the late 1990s, PQFP and TSOP packages became the most common for high pin count devices, though PGA packages are still often used for high-end microprocessors. PQFP, or plastic quad flat pack, is a type of IC packaging It has generally been superseded by the thinner TQFP package Thin small-outline packages, or TSOP s are a type of Surface mount IC package A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated Intel and AMD are currently transitioning from PGA packages on high-end microprocessors to land grid array (LGA) packages. The land grid array ( LGA) is a type of Surface-mount packaging used for Integrated circuits It can be electrically connected

Ball grid array (BGA) packages have existed since the 1970s. A ball grid array ( BGA) is a type of Surface-mount packaging used for Integrated circuits BGA The BGA is descended from the Flip-chip Ball Grid Array packages, which allow for much higher pin count than other package types, were developed in the 1990s. In an FCBGA package the die is mounted upside-down (flipped) and connects to the package balls via a package substrate that is similar to a printed-circuit board rather than by wires. FCBGA packages allow an array of input-output signals (called Area-I/O) to be distributed over the entire die rather than being confined to the die periphery.

Traces out of the die, through the package, and into the printed circuit board have very different electrical properties, compared to on-chip signals. A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect Electronic components using conductive pathways or traces They require special design techniques and need much more electric power than signals confined to the chip itself.

When multiple dies are put in one package, it is called SiP, for System In Package. A System-in-a-Package or System in Package ( SiP) also known as a Chip Stack MCM, Multi-Chip Module (MCM isn't MCM far When multiple dies are combined on a small substrate, often ceramic, it's called an MCM, or Multi-Chip Module. A Multi-Chip Module (MCM is a specialized electronic package where multiple Integrated circuits (ICs semiconductor dies or other modules are packaged in such a way as The boundary between a big MCM and a small printed circuit board is sometimes fuzzy.

Other developments

In the 1980's programmable integrated circuits were developed. A programmable logic device or PLD is an electronic component used to build reconfigurable Digital circuits Unlike a Logic gate, which has a These devices contain circuits whose logical function and connectivity can be programmed by the user, rather than being fixed by the integrated circuit manufacturer. This allows a single chip to be programmed to implement different LSI-type functions such as logic gates, adders, and registers. A logic gate performs a logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output In electronics an adder or summer is a Digital circuit that performs Addition of numbers In Computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available on the CPU whose contents can be accessed more quickly than storage Current devices named FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) can now implement tens of thousands of LSI circuits in parallel and operate up to 550 MHz. FPGAs should not be confused with the Flip-chip pin grid array, a form of integrated circuit packaging

The techniques perfected by the integrated circuits industry over the last three decades have been used to create microscopic machines, known as MEMS. Microelectromechanical systems ( MEMS) is the technology of the very small and merges at the nano-scale into Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS and Nanotechnology These devices are used in a variety of commercial and military applications. Example commercial applications include DLP projectors, inkjet printers, and accelerometers used to deploy automobile airbags. Digital Light Processing (DLP is a Trademark owned by Texas Instruments, representing a technology used in projectors and Video projectors It was Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material ( Ink) onto almost any sized page An accelerometer is a device for measuring Acceleration and gravity induced reaction forces An airbag is part of a vehicle's safety restraint system a flexible envelope designed for rapid inflation in an automobile Collision, to prevent vehicle occupants

In the past, radios could not be fabricated in the same low-cost processes as microprocessors. But since 1998, a large number of radio chips have been developed using CMOS processes. Examples include Intel's DECT cordless phone, or Atheros's 802. Atheros Communications ( is a developer of Semiconductors for Wireless communications 11 card.

Future developments seem to follow the multi-microprocessor paradigm, already used by the Intel and AMD dual-core processors. Intel recently unveiled a prototype, "not for commercial sale" chip that bears a staggering 80 microprocessors. Each core is capable of handling its own task independently of the others. This is in response to the heat-versus-speed limit that is about to be reached using existing transistor technology. This design provides a new challenge to chip programming. X10 is the new open-source programming language designed to assist with this task. X10 is a Programming language being developed by IBM at the Thomas J [10]

Silicon graffiti

Ever since ICs were created, some chip designers have used the silicon surface area for surreptitious, non-functional images or words. These are sometimes referred to as Chip Art, Silicon Art, Silicon Graffiti or Silicon Doodling. Chip art, also known as silicon art, chip graffiti or silicon doodling, refers to microscopic artwork built into Integrated circuits, also called For an overview of this practice, see the article The Secret Art of Chip Graffiti, from the IEEE magazine Spectrum and the Silicon Zoo.

Key industrial and academic data

Notable ICs

Manufacturers

A list of notable manufacturers; some operating, some defunct:

VLSI conferences

VLSI journals

Branch pages

See also

General topics
Related devices and terms
IC Device Technologies
other

References

Academic:

Precursors and patents:

  1. ^ [1] - Retrieved on May 29 2008.
  2. ^ [2] - Retrieved on May 29 2008.
  3. ^ [3] - Retrieved on May 29 2008
  4. ^ DE patent 833366 W. Jacobi/SIEMENS AG: „Halbleiterverstärker“ priority filing on April 14, 1949, published on May 15, 1952.
  5. ^ EETimes.com
  6. ^ Kurt Lehovec's patent on the isolation p-n junction: U.S. Patent 3,029,366  granted on April 10, 1962, filed April 22, 1959. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Robert Noyce credits Lehovec in his article – "Microelectronics", Scientific American, September 1977, Volume 23, Number 3, pp. Scientific American is a Popular science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly since August 28, 1845, making it 63–9.
  7. ^ Peter Clarke, EE Times: Intel enters billion-transistor processor era, 14 November 2005
  8. ^ Antone Gonsalves, EE Times, Samsung begins production of 16-Gb flash, 30 April 2007
  9. ^ For example, Intel Fab 28 cost 3. 5 billion USD, while its neighboring Fab 18 cost 1. 5 billion USD http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=29958
  10. ^ Biever, C. "Chip revolution poses problems for programmers", New Scientist (Vol 193, Number 2594)

External links

General

Author S. P. Marsh

Patents

Audio video

Silicon graffiti

Integrated circuit die photographs

Applied Materials Inc ( is a major capital equipment producer serving the Semiconductor TFT LCD Display Glass WEB and Solar manufacturing industries

Dictionary

integrated circuit

-noun

  1. (electronics) a thin chip consisting of at least two interconnected semiconductor devices, mainly transistors
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